Saint-Pierre

This show has me hooked and there have only been 4 episodes so far. The plotline of a cop/detective entering a new working environment and working with new people is something that I always enjoy watching.

In this series the two lead characters are very likeable and interesting as they both have background stories that we want to see. The stories of each episode are also very interesting and you never get bored.

I would love to see many more episodes of this show as the characters have a lot of chemistry and there is also a very fine balance of drama, action and comedy that makes it so fun to watch.

SEASON 1 (3/5)

I'm very happy to finally see some nice productions taking place in the Saint-Pierre et Miquelon islands! It's such a hidden gem in the world.

The show is the formulaic detective show to watch after work we all know. It doesn't re-invent anything for the genre but gives you some entertaining investigations and a very charismatic cast, especially the main duo, Josephine Jobert and Allan Hawco, who shine in their respective roles.

The show seems to be stuck in their "crime of the week" format, each episode ends with a reveal that is supposed to make move forward an overaching story which it's nice but it's usually five minutes of it and then they barely come back to these reveals until the end of the next episode. I think the show would gain by mixing in a better way their main story and the episodic crimes.

It's a comfort show; despite the murders, Saint-Pierre never shared any heavy subjects or any very sad/difficult moments.

As someone from Saint-Pierre, I had a fun time guessing which scenes were shot in Saint-Pierre and which one was shot in Canada, but if you don't know the islands by heart like myself, the edits made everything pretty smooth.

The last episode made me excited and very intrigued about the next season, but it was a little unfair to end like that.

This is worth watching. The setting is great and Arch and Fitz are good characters that seem well anchored and with room to grow. The mysteries are on the cozy side, but without the main characters being ridiculous/camp, though there is a sense that things are going to get more serious.

I like that Arch is smart/capable - she holds her own and isn't dressed ridiculously. Fitz is a bit of a curious mix - in exile and aware of past decisions that were bad or questionable. He has an air of regret, but also an unwavering belief in his own instincts.

We are slowly getting to know more about the characters and I find myself wanting to know more about them. Looking forward to the rest of the season.

Love love the setting. Exquisite. It is the star of the show for now.

However, we are damned with the same old, stale plot line of a crime that is solved in 47 minutes. People are more sophisticated now with Netflix and British crime series that take the crime over a number of episodes. Stop the "Murder She Wrote" template and go for the more complex, like Netflix "Lincoln Lawyer" or "Mr. & Mrs. Smith". Both only an hour long but gave the viewer a story that we could sink our teeth into. Hence their success! Trust me we can handle it.

Same with the character development. Too many paper-thin tropes. The sassy female, the crooked captain, the rich villain, the newcomer with a sorry tale. All of these are fine in general, but you absolutely need to give them some depth. Make them interesting, juicy. Canada's "Family Law", for instance, their characters have some meat on the bones. Have to engage your viewer in stories with weight and characters we care about and want to know more.

So I got to see Saint-Pierre for the first time at an early screening in Toronto back in December and truthfully didn't even realize it was a real place at first. Who knew there was an island off the coast of Newfoundland that belongs to France! I had heard of other islands in the Carribean but had no idea we had one so close to Canada. Anyways, that really peaked my interest to see the show and so far in the first episodes its been fun to see the location!

The two main characters seem to strongly dislike each other but I'm sure that will change and I look forward to watching these two good actors bring that to life. Looking forward for more!